They say a “tipping point” could arrive in 2035, when today’s 45-year-olds retire to find themselves poorer than their parents.

The group is calling on the Government and the financial sector to work together to replace the country’s debt culture with a greater emphasis on saving.

Together they have launched the Savings and Investment ­Policy project which aims to develop strategic proposals on how to reverse the “savings crisis”.

The group will present the findings to all political parties in ­September.

It sets out the scale of the problem in its new report, entitled Our Financial Future.

A study shows under-35s will be hardest hit as they try to balance saving with rising housing costs

This reveals 30 per cent of households have no savings at all and another 20 per cent have less than £1,500 to cover something unexpected without having to borrow.

A quarter of British households would not be able to afford a £250 increase in their mortgage payments, while unsecured debt is up from £50billion in 1993 to £158billion last year.

Low income ­levels in retirement will deteriorate between 2045 and 2060 as a second baby boom of up to 12 million people retire.

Tony Stenning, of BlackRock, the chairman of the project, said: “Over the past 25 years, the state and employers have had to significantly reduce the levels of income that people can expect in retirement.

“This means people need to save more just to maintain the same standard of living as their parents. Meanwhile, given increasing longevity, their retirement pot will have to work much harder.”

A report by ­accountants PwC says one in four would take their state pension early – even if it left them £450 a year worse off.

Another 19 per cent would opt to take it later to get a higher amount.

PwC says the fixed retirement age should be ditched for a “state pension window”, giving an adjusted amount over the life of a pension based on the start date.